Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Overseas Aid

Wendy Morton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department's spending was in Overseas Development Aid in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) the first 10 months of 2015-16; and what the recipient countries of that aid were.

Joseph Johnson: Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is recorded and reported on a calendar year basis. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is supporting economic development and social welfare in developing countries through a number of programmes. The Newton Fund builds science and innovation partnerships between the UK and 15 emerging economies; and the new Global Challenges Research Fund will help to put the UK at the forefront of research into some of the world's greatest challenges. BIS spent £48.5m in 2013, and £79m in 2014. This spend is broken down by recipient countries in the table. Where spend cannot be attributed to an individual country, it is attributed to appropriate groups. Details on 2015 calendar year ODA spend will be published in the National Statistics publication ‘Provisional UK ODA as a proportion of Gross National Income (GNI)’ on 1 April 2016, at a department level. Country level ODA information will be published in Statistics on International Development due for release in October 2016.Department for Business Innovation and Skills Overseas Development Aid 2013 to 2014   Amounts Extended (£thousands) Country20132014 Africa, regional3,9879,840 Asia, regional179268 Brazil65180 Burkina Faso180182 Chile 30 China9132,885 Colombia 193 Developing countries, unspecified19,86833,968 Egypt 79 Ethiopia6486 Gambia9,6109,347 Ghana566598 India1,3225,407 Indonesia190198 Kazakhstan 298 Kenya1,7142,342 Lesotho 130 Malawi1561,819 Malaysia220226 Mali 161 Mauritania169118 Mexico202420 Nigeria52184 Oceania, regional7059 Papua New Guinea860522 Peru199190 Philippines 10 Sao Tome & Principe 95 Senegal 65 South Africa1,7011,573 South Asia, regional327641 South of Sahara, regional441  Sri Lanka 14 Sudan 449 Tanzania535662 Thailand 12 Turkey 11 Uganda4,7675,547 Vietnam 12 Zambia188204 Total48,54479,027

Migrant Workers

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to section 5.9 of the Migration Advisory Committee's review of Tier 2 visas, published in December 2015, whether he plans to introduce an Immigration Skills Charge for employers for all Tier 2 visa workers of £1,000 per year per worker.

Joseph Johnson: Following consideration of the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on migration and other evidence, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Immigration has made a written statement on Tier 2 migration including the Immigration Skills Charge.The full statement can be viewed at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-03-24/HCWS660/.

Materials: Patents

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the proportion of global patents for graphene that is held in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Holding answer received on 22 March 2016



The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) estimates that 5% of global graphene patent documents published between 2005 and 2014 have coverage in the UK (in that they are applications to the IPO or the European Patent Office (EPO) with effect in the UK, but were not necessarily filed by UK applicants). In the same period, UK applicants were responsible for filing 1% of published global graphene patent applications worldwide.

Students: Debts

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the total amount of student debt (a) repaid and (b) outstanding was in each of the last 10 years.

Joseph Johnson: The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans for each of the UK Government Administrations. Statistics covering English loans are published annually by SLC in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Loans in England’. Data for each devolved administration has been reported separately since 2007-08.http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspxTable 1 of the Statistical First Release contains information on the total amounts of income-contingent repayment (ICR) student loans repaid and outstanding. The most recent data refers to the 2014-15 financial year. The amount of ICR student loans repaid during the financial year was £1.6 billion, and the amount of student loans outstanding at the end of the financial year was £64.7 billion.Earlier Statistical First Releases, which contain information on previous financial years can be found at:http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/full-catalogue-of-official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx

Science: Finance

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the effect of ring fencing funding from his Department for the Global Challenges Fund on other scientific research for which his Department provides funding.

Joseph Johnson: Funding for the Global Challenges Research Fund is provided in addition to the existing science and research budget, and is received as a budget transfer from the Department for International Development. The fund will help to keep the UK at the forefront of research into some of the world’s most pressing challenges, including the environment, hunger, poverty and diseases.